PowerPoint from Microsoft® (Microsoft) is an example of a widely used presentation application or format for a variety of markets today. Currently, online companies like zoho.com and thinkfree.com are delivering simple, free versions of presentation slideshow tools like PowerPoint software along with presentation hosting solutions over the web. However, none of these applications are providing a better and more appropriate presentation vehicle to display digital content that lets a user present content in a seamless non-sequential manner.
PowerPoint was inspired by transparency projectors, and in a similar fashion presents one ‘page’ of information after another in a sequential slideshow-type format. Users click on ‘forward’ or ‘backward’ buttons or click on the slideshow page to advance to the next slide. PowerPoint then adds features like dynamic transitions, and embedding sound, movies and graphs that differentiate it from the transparency metaphor.
Although PowerPoint is the number one presentation tool in the market today, many end-users, like educators, do not use PowerPoint. Most can not take the time or money to train to use the software. Others can not afford the time that it takes just to create a slideshow. But more importantly teachers and other presenters find that PowerPoint digital slideshows are disruptive to a class or live audience presentation. The slideshow format does not allow a presenter to respond to the random way they need to move through content jumping from topic to topic as they respond to the way an audience is reacting to the presentation. For a teacher, not every class responds the same way to the same material. The same goes for other speakers as well.
Navigation in a presentation slideshow needs to be more flexible. In a typical PowerPoint presentation, if a speaker wants to jump to different slides that are not in the next sequence, the speaker has to fast forward to the ‘right’ slide or drop out of ‘presentation’ mode into ‘edit’ mode of the application, scan the thumbnail images to the ‘right’ slide and then launch back into ‘presentation’ mode. With transparencies, the speaker selects transparencies in any sequence before placing the selected sheet on the projector for the audience to view. In addition, it is becoming common for presenters to use video content, and content from websites outside of the presentation. The user will minimize the slideshow and open up the video file or open up the web page and then minimize those applications to return to the slideshow application. The presenter juggles between different applications to get their point across, losing the flow of narrative, the attention of the audience. They end up spending what little time they have opening and closing files instead of delivering the message. This becomes a disruption to the narrative, which is frustrating to the presenter and to the audience.
Managing embedded and linked content is also becoming a growing problem as documents attempt to use more and more rich media. With the onslaught of digital content available from the Internet, presenters are looking for ways to integrate more digital content into their presentation, but they do not have any way to track and manage this content. This content could be in the form of a video file streamed from the internet or from a desktop computer.
Although tools like PowerPoint give the author the ability to embed multiple file types, the slideshow format does not have any means of displaying to the author a way to track details of each embedded content file. For example, if a presentation is using two movie files, three (3) images and some text, the author has no way to track which files were imported into the slideshow. PowerPoint hides the media once it is bundled into the document file or, in the case of a movie file, creates an invisible link to the file on the desktop. There is not any method by which the author can know what that file name is or where it is being linked from on the desktop. This is a problem if the slideshow is being copied to another machine. If the author does not also copy the video file, the slideshow will not be able to play the video because it will not be able to locate the link. This is even more of a problem if the author is referring back to a file several months later and inadvertently deleted the movie file or moved that file into another folder unknowingly breaking the link between the slideshow and the content file. As a result, many presenters keep content out of the presentation materials and opt to provide the content by opening and closing web browsers and media files separate from the slideshow. This creates a disruptive experience for both the presenter and audience as the presenter moves between the slideshow application and the desktop to open and close different application windows.
With the current explosion of interest in ‘Web 2.0’, the media has been focused on the way user-generated digital content attracts social networks of young people on the Web. Many websites are providing simple web applications that allow the novice user to quickly create and host content for online viewing. Many of these companies offer content hosting for specific media. Youtube.com is a popular video file sharing site where consumers can upload personal movies clips that the public can view. Flickr.com is a popular image sharing and tagging site that lets amateur to professional photographers upload their images. Blogger.com is one of many text diary publishing sites where users can post pictures, movies and text. Also, Thumbstack.com and Zoho.com offer presentation tools for creating and presenting slideshow presentations online.
Many of these services present information in a single slideshow format method, sequentially presenting video, image or text. What is missing is a way to move beyond the slideshow format and introduce a more intuitive and much easier authoring and presentation environment. Consequently, there is a need for a media management system or platform that includes a presentation format that addresses a more seamless way to navigate through digital content in a more non-sequential manner.